Archive News Stories of 2011 from Krakow Info
Year
2011
Local
Government, the Elections Outcome
In the wake of recent local
government elections on November 21st, 2010
Poland’s governing center-right party Civic Platform
(Platforma Obywatelska - PO), won the majority of 24
seats in
Krakow’s 43-strong city council. It’s got 42 percent of
votes while its arch-rival, the right-wing Law and
Justice party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc – PiS) came second with 27
percent which gave it 12 councilors. In the concurrent mayoral
race no candidate won the outright majority of the
votes. In the run-off on December 5th, 2010 the incumbent, Professor Jacek Majchrowski who
stood as an independent, has secured himself the third
consecutive term in office.
UE
Leaders to Meet in Krakow in 2011.
Polish government has selected Krakow as one of likely
sites of the summit meetings of the European Union.
They will take place on the territory of Poland during
the Polish six-month presidency of the EU that starts
on July 1st, 2011 to end on December 31st, 2011. The
summits include the Council of the Union rendezvous of
the heads of states and governments as well as
meetings on the ministerial level.
8-million-plus
Visited Krakow in 2010
Krakow attracted over 8.1 million visitors in 2010,
800,000 more than a year ago – estimates Malopolska
Tourist Organization. Foreigners constituted roughly a
quarter of the total number, i.e. 2.1 million, and –
in contrast to Polish tourists – they mostly stayed
overnight in the city. Over 26 percent of them came
from the UK while 11.2 percent were Germans, 9.1
percent Italians, 8.3 percent Frenchmen, and 6.3
percent Spaniards. In 2010 all visitors spent some 3.5
billion zloties during their stay in Krakow.
Hilton
Is Here
Krakow’s first Hilton hotel has opened at 33
Konopnickiej street, not far from the Wawel Royal
Castle on the opposite bank of Wisla river. The four-star,
six-story Hilton Garden Inn Kraków is Poland’s
first hotel of the chain, one of the many brands in
the portfolio of the Hilton Worldwide. As the rest of
the pack, Krakow’s hotel targets both tourists and
business travelers. It boasts 154 rooms and among its
amenities include a 24/7 convenience store on the
premises, a restaurant, 400-sq-meter conference area,
a complimentary business center, and fitness
facilities. The rooms are equipped with empty mini-fridges
instead of minibars.
Krakow
Voting
This year's parliamentary elections on Sunday, October
9th have produced few surprises in Krakow. Incumbents
of the centrist Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska,
PO) have won 45 percent of the vote in the city which
gives their party eight seats in Sejm, the dominant
lower house of the Polish parliament. The main
opposition Party, the nationalist Law and Justice (Prawo
i Sprawiedliwosc, PiS), has managed to secure 30
percent and five seats. Brand-new force on Poland's
political scene, left-wing populist Palikot's Movement
(Ruch Palikota, RP), has attracted nine percent of
voters to get a single seat in the Krakow
parliamentary district. It has gone to Ms Anna Grodzka,
formerly Mr Ryszard Grodzki, currently the only
transsexual member of any parliament in the world.
Other parties failed to clear the five-percent
threshold. The turnout in Krakow was sixty percent,
i.e. 13 percent higher than the average for the entire
Poland.
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